Process of sampling



'Hw. welcher,

H. W, FLETCHER PROCESS oF SAMPLING May 27 1924.

lled Aprll 14 AROLD W. FLETCHER', OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TOHTI'GrI'lJS TOOLCOMPANY,

OF HOUSTON, TEXAS,

A coaronarron or Texas.'

PROCESS 0F SLING.

Application led April 14, 1922. Serial No. 552,645.

To all whom itmay concer'ni Beit known that I, HAROLD fW. Fm'rormn, acitizen of the United States, residingat Houston, Harris County, Texas,have 1n vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes ofSampling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention is for use in drilling wells and has particular applicationto the drilling of wells for oil, gas, sulphur, etc. It consistsparticularly in the process of obtaining a sample, of the material beingY drilled.

I end of the drill stem by The object of my invention is to provide aprocess of handling the drilling apparatus whereby a sample of thematerial may be obtainedwithout the usual objectionable washing away ofthe lco're as the pipe is withdrawn from the well.

Another object is to provide a process of core drilling by means ofwhich the foreign material in the bottom of the well and the core drillmay be efficiently flushed away before the sample is obtained.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the more detaileddescription which follows. In the drawing Fig. 1 illustrates a centrallongitudinal section through a" well' being bored, showing thearrangement of'the device used in obtaining the sample and Fig. 2 showsthe core barrel y.; closed to engage the core.

-In carrying out my invention l contemplate securing a core barrel 1 ofordinary construction, tq the lowe'r end of a drill stem 2." Both thecore barrel and drill stem will be of ordinary tubular pipe customarily4 used for this purpose. l

The core barrel is joined to the lower means of a couling is threadedinterpling 3. This cou e upper end forattachnally at4 toward t ment tothe threaded at 5 for attachment to the core barrel. Between thesepoints of attachment the interior diameter of the coupling is materiallyreduced to form a central 'passage 6 adapted to be closed at the upperend by means of the ball valve 7 To accommodate this ball valve ltheupper end of passage 6 is tapered and formed into a seat into which theSaid. valve-is adaptedt0 lit. Above th@ forcing drill stem, and issimilarly hole it is filled to a greater or less extent with gumbo Aandother formation scraped 'o the wall, and a suilicient amount of flushingfluid must be pumped down through the core barrel to clean out theseaccumulations,

and to wash all loose material from the bot-A tom of the hole. The corebarrel is then allowed to rest firmly upon the bottom of the hole, andit'will be apparent that there will be no -foreign matter from the upperstrata` within the core barrel at the timethe corel is started.

The ball valve 7 will then be inserted into the upper end of the drillstem at the surface of the ground to drop downwardly inside thereof.4The action of the pumps in the flushing fluid downwardly will assist inThe core barrely and drill steni thus bringing the ball down to itsproper are perfoseat in the coupling 3 as shown in the drawt ing. Theflushing fluid will thereby be :cut yoil from the upper end of the corebarrel and will find an exit through the openings 8 above the barrel. ofthe fluid will then be .downwardly through the drill stem and theopenings 8 and upwardly outside the vdrill stem to the surface of theground. The rotation of the v drill stem and core barrel will serve tocut away the formation in the usual manner until the proper amount ofogre' or sample shown at 9 has been received within the core barrel. \Itwill be obvious that the uid'remaining in the core barrel above thebottom of the hole when the drilling operation is started will betrapped within rel above the upper end of the core. The force of thepumps and the size of the outlets 8 will be so adjusted asto exertenough pressure upon the valve 7 to retain it in its seat. The fluid inthe up barrel will therefore be` orced downwardly through the spacebetween the core barrel and the core into 'the lower end of the hole.

rlhe circulationthe core bar-` er end of the core This will serve tolubricate the surfaces both inside and outside the core barrel sucientlyto obtain the proper action.

' When the core has been obtained the drill stem will be used to forcethe core barrel downwardly against the bottom of the hole so as to bendthe lower ends of the core barrel inwardly to grip the core as shown inFig. 2. The assembled device will then be withdrawlrfrom the wellcarrying with it the core thus obtained.. `With the valve 7 in its seatabove the core no fluid within the drill stem will find entrance intothe core barrel to wash away any part of the core already obtained andthe sample will thus be withdrawn from the well in its original form ascut from the strata.

The advantages of this process lie in the manner in which the apparatusis operated.

The valve 7 is omitted until the bottom of the well has been completelycleaned. This assures that when the apparatus is operated to obtain thecore no foreign formation is within the core barrel or lying upon thebottom of the well. The valve is then used toclose olf the core barrelfrom the drill stem so that thereafter none of the Huslling fluid willbe forced dowr Wardly into the core barrel by the pumps, orl by thewithdrawal of the pipe from the Nell. This assures that a proper corewill be obtained under all conditions and that when thus obtained itwill not be washed away by the Huid in the drill stem.

`'Having thus described my a invention which ll claim is new and desireto protect by this patent is l:

'1. ln the drilling of wells, the process of obtaining a sample of thematerial, cornprising securing a corev barrel vto the forward end of thedrill-stem, inserting said core barrel and drill stem downwardly intothe hole, washing the-hole by pumpinguid downwardly through the drillstem and core barrel, then closing the upper nd of the meagre corebarrel, circulating the fluid upwardly outside the drill stem above thecore barrel, rotating the core barrel until a core has been cut andraising the core barrel and core from the well. t.

2. `lin the drilling of wells, the process of obtaining a sample of thematerial, comprising securing a core barrel to the forward end of thedrill stein, inserting said core barrel and drill stem downwardly intothe hole, pumping flushing fluid downwardly through said core barrel toclean the well, closing the lower end of the drill stem above the corebarrel, providing an outlet from the drill stem for flushing fluid abovesaid core barrel, rotating the core barrel and raising the core barreland core from the well.

3. Tn the drilling of wells, the process of obtaining a sample of thematerialcompris ing securing a length of pipe constituting a core barrelto the forward end of the drill stem, providing a passage from thedrill.

stein through the core barrel, inserting the core barrel into the well,pumping fluid through said core barrel to clean the bottom of the well,closing the passage from the drill stem, rotating the core barrel andremoving the core barrel and the sample from the well. f

4. lin the drilling of wells, the process of obtaining a sample of thematerial comprising securing a length of pipe constituting a core barrelto the forward end of the drill stem, providing a passage from the drillstem through the core barrel, inserting the core barrel into the well,pumping Huid through said core barrel to clean the well,

inserting a valve into said passage, rotating lsurnoms w.. rtnrcnnu.

